Derby County succumbed to another defeat on their travels as Sunderland were 2-0 victors at the Stadium of Light.
Derby always knew it was going to be a difficult challenge winning at Sunderland as the Black Cats started the evening in second while the Rams were winless on their travels.
Paul Warne’s men showed promising signs in the opening stages but any hope of securing a positive result was crushed by Jobe Bellingham, who beat Jacob Widell Zetterstrom with a superb curling effort on the stroke of half-time.
Sunderland then doubled their lead through Wilson Isidor 10 minutes into the second half as Derby suffered their fifth defeat of the campaign and remained 13th in the Championship table.
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Paul Warne shares what went wrong for Derby County vs Sunderland
Derby were in the game up until Bellingham produced a moment of magic for the hosts and from there, it was one-way traffic.
Warne’s men barely laid a glove on Sunderland in the second period as Regis Le Bris’ side cruised to all three points on Tuesday night.
The Black Cats had an array of talent littered across their front line, whereas Derby lacked quality on the ball and a cutting-edge in the final third, according to Warne.
Speaking to BBC Radio Derby at full-time, the Rams boss said: “Tonight every time we put a tackle in it seemed to be a free-kick.
“For parts of it we looked good, but not for long enough. I asked the lads to keep the ball, to treat it like it is their partner.
“I cannot criticise the lads’ lack of effort, I just don’t think we had enough quality on the ball. In the final third we did not have that cutting edge.
“It is disappointing, but I will come away with some positives.”
Derby were victims of their downfall as they gifted possession back to Sunderland far too easily and against a side chasing promotion, that is something they could ill-afford to do.
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Derby County’s away form needs to improve
Survival is the ultimate aim for Derby this season and they won’t be judged on whether they take points from teams like Sunderland.
However, their away form this campaign has been alarming, losing all four of their matches and only scoring once in their previous three.
Derby can feel confident that they can match most teams in the division at Pride Park but on their travels, it’s a completely different story.
For the Rams to survive in the Championship this term, Warne must find a way to start winning outside of Derbyshire, otherwise, they could quickly plummet down the table, especially if the results start drying up at home.